Modelling

I had a great time this Saturday with Logan and Angie at my small studio here in Warsaw, NC. Logan is entering a model search competition and needed some shots to enter. Here a just a few of the shots from that session.

Thankful!

I lost a close friend(car) over the Thanksgiving Holiday. Our 2006 Dodge Magnum RT was over run by the sound water as we tried to get away from the incoming tide on BLACK FRIDAY. It was also my 10 year Anniversary. My wife and I will never forget it and we are thankful that GOD kept us all safe. It was about 5am when we packed up the car, as the waves were crashing over the front yard of the cottage we were staying at. We tried to make it down the road out and the engine shut off about half way down the road. My family and Grandmom had to get out and wade in Knee deep water as the water flooded my car. Luckily there were some kind folks that let us stay with them for several hours, until the water went down.

Top Pick

I found out yesterday that Samsung of America's photography website chose my photo called SPINNING ABOUT as their top pick of the month for July 2009. Here is the link to the page:
www.soaphoto.com
Every month there are close to 30,000 photos submitted to the contest. This is my third time receiving the honor. It has been really exciting getting a hot pick and a top pick in the same week.

Hot Pick of the Week!

I just found out that the editors of www.soaphoto.com (Samsung of America) chose FUN WITH SAND as one of their HOT PICKS OF THE WEEK. I had a chance last week to edit one of my favorite photographs of my son playing in the sand. Someone asked me if he was posed or prompted for this shot, but he was not. When we walked down to the beach he just started throwing sand everywhere.I was amazed when I got home and saw it on the computer, because I had never seen sand captured in that way before.
I also had a little fun with my daughter outside my photo studio here in Warsaw, NC. I used a shoot through umbrella from about 4 feet away to try and overpower the sun that was coming through the trees. I always worry about frying the sensor on my camera, when aiming directly at the sun. Anyway, I just loved the way it turned out. If you are reading this blog, drop me a line. I would love to hear a word from SOMEONE!!!

Kirk

Studio Stuff

I've been toying around in the studio this weekend, here in Warsaw, North Carolina. I had to proove to myself that I could do a better job photographing my child than LIFETOUCH did. My wife thinks I did. Max is cheap! He posed for 2 dollars! I also got my daughter in there as well. I want to thank GOD for blessing me with such a wonderful family!

Tennis 2009-10

I just finished up coaching a high school girls tennis team. We came in third in the conference and had a great year! The team is made up of mostly sophomores and we are hoping to see great things in the near future. Im going to enjoy a couple of weeks off before middle school basketball begins. Pray for me!! lol

So many pictures...so little time!

This year is the busiest time of my life! I have never thought I would be taking on 4 jobs at once, but it has happened. I currently teach Middle School Physical Education, teach an online class of Health and Physical Education with the North Carolina Virtual Public School, coach a High School Girl's tennis team and am a Professional Photographer. The weekend of October 10th was also very busy. I took on two weddings in one day and needless to say I was worn out by the end of the day. I just want to thank God for helping me through everything. I had the honor of photographing the Kornegay wedding here in Warsaw, North Carolina. We were a little worried when the groom had to take off, because he forgot the rings, but he managed to get down the isle on time. Ron and Janice had a beautiful wedding and my wife and I both agreed that the singing might have been the best we have ever heard.

With a short break between weddings, we then headed over to Wallace, North Carolina to an amazing restaurant called THE MAD BOAR. I can't think of a more immaculately designed interior than this place. They spared no expense with the attention to detail and I can see why many couples choose this place for wedding receptions and in this case the actual wedding. I coached the bride of this wedding when she was on the softball team at Union High School. It was just by coincidence that she chose me as her photographer. It has been great getting to know Jadie and Jeremy Hamm as we took their engagement photos and bridal portraits.

Tropical Storm Danny

I was supposed to shoot some family portraits in Hatteras, NC this morning. Tropical Storm Danny was coming so close to the coast, that I didnt want to risk getting stuck going on or off the island. I also didnt want to risk driving through salt water. I hear it does alot of damage to the underside of your car. I dont have any pictures of Danny, so I used this picture from a tropical storm a few years ago. Probably about the same strength as Danny.

I'll be getting three new backgrounds for the studio this week. It should be fun installing them. I will have some subjects to test the backgrounds with in about a week.

Hot Pick of the Week!

I was happy to find out that Samsung of America's Photography Website picked my Enchanted House digital darkroom entry as a hot pick of the week.

Here is the link: Soaphoto.com

Enchanted House

The great thing about summer is you can spend a whole day, doing whatever you please. I spent about 6 hours on this photo. It is made up of about 6 stock photos and 6 photos of my own, that I blended together in photoshop. I've really been inspired by Dave Hill to get better at editing in photoshop. While I'm not quite in his league yet, I do enjoy it and I'm sure I'll get better as the years go on.
Kirk

A Stitch in Time

I had to go to the Urgent Care in Clinton, NC tonight. I wasnt really pleased to have a one inch gash in my leg. The doctor gave me three stitches. My apologies to Carmen and her family for having to cancel the photo shoot that was planned for 6:30. A real wimpy cut for the amount of blood that came out of it. Luckily there wasn't any glass embedded in my leg. Thanks to the Doc for a wonderful stitch job and to GOD for not letting it be any worse than it could have been.

Family Portraits

This weekend I had a great time with the Pender Family, as they came to my studio here in Warsaw, NC. Sienna was about 2 months old and was a total blast to work with. She was up for any poses we tried and didn't cry the first time. It was really great getting to work with the Pender family again. I did bridal portraits and then had the honor of photographing their wedding.

God Bless America

We spent the evening of July 4th in Mount Olive, NC. I took my wife, kids and grandma to the airport runway to see this grand display. We were surrounded by corn fields! It was quite amusing that many folks were using the corn fields as restrooms, since there was no where else to go. I was as close to fireworks being launched as I have ever been. I was standing on the runway, as I took these 3 shots with my new Tokina 11-16mm f 2.8. I was really impressed with the fireworks display in the pickle capital of North Carolina! I hope all of you had a wonderful 4th of July. GOD bless America!

Summer Vacation

We spent a week at Cape Hatteras with my parents. The weather was great and the only complaint was the mosquitoes. The pool water may have been too hot too. Anyway, I was able to sneak away from the kiddies for a few minutes to take pictures. This is the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse just a few minutes after a double rainbow appeared. Had I been just fifteen minutes earlier, I would have had an incredible shot. Thats half of landscape photography...right place..right time! It is good to be home and get back in the swing of things! I hope all of you have a great summer!
Kirk

Hot Pick of the Week!

Every week SOAPHOTO.com picks a dozen photos from the hundreds submitted every week. This picture was chosen as a HOTPICK of the week by the editors of Samsung of America's website. This photograph was taken at the park in Kenansville NC.

Love is in the Air!

I had a chance to work with Jadie and Jeremy who live near Raleigh, NC. They are getting married in October and decided to have some engagement photos done on the NC State campus. It was really hot and we did find a few cool shady spots for some portraits. Luckily there weren't many students around, so we had access to the whole campus. My wife and I ended up eating lunch with them after the photo shoot. They are just a really nice down to earth couple!

Spinning About

Speaking of Spinning....I am recovering from a weekend of being sick. It seems some food didnt quite agree with me. Anyway, I was feeling good enough on Sunday to take the kids to the park and I got a really neat shot of Isabelle with my new Tokina 11-16mm f 2.8 lens. The spin blur was done totally in-camera and some color tweaks in photoshop. I also had time this weekend to work with textures. These are my first two attempts at the whole fad. I also got some new white tileboard for the studio, by my house, here in Warsaw, NC. As you can see the white boards give off a nice diffused reflection.

Spring Fling 2009

This was my second year doing the spring dance for a local middle school that I also teach at. The kids were all super to work with and I was really impressed that they all danced. When I first pictured a middle school dance, I thought about a stereotypical scene where girls would be on one side and the boys on the other looking at each other. I guess the days of seeing shy kids are long gone. I was asked to dance, but I'm quite the laughing stock when it comes to smooth moves.

God is Good

I had a chance to work with a Youth Group for a Catholic Church this last week. They were a great group of kids and we were able to get a shot of Gods promise(rainbow.) I had to photoshop a couple of buildings out of the shot. You can see the before photoshop shot on the left and after photoshop on the right. I just want to thank GOD for the blessings and mercy he gives everyday!

Spring Photos

I had a photoshoot this weekend with a sweet little one year old girl named Caroline. She was a real trooper braving the bees next to the azaleas and watching grown people with cheerleader routines. The weather turned out great for the shoot outside and then we packed up the gear and headed to the studio. My thanks to Caroline's parents for working so well with her and for holding reflectors during the shoot! Overall it was a fun day and we got some fantastic shots!

Dentist in Training

Max has been a really great sport about letting me shoot him several times a week. I m glad he has gone along with it, because it really helps me feel like I can work with any child, if I can shoot pictures of my own kids. To quote famous child photographer Sandy Puc, "Id rather pull out my own teeth than take pictures of my own kids." It also gave me an opportunity to try out a new light meter.

Easter

I went home for the Easter weekend. My family lives on the Island of Cape Hatteras and its been 6 months since I visited last. I had a great time eating, eating and eating some more. Im now too fat to hold a camera, so Im shutting down my business until I get back to 185 pounds. lol It was great seeing all the kids, picking up eggs at local churches. Had a great time seeing all my family. I did get out last night for about an hour and a half to take this shot of the lighthouse. I almost froze to death and there was what sounded like a dying raccoon in the woods a couple of feet from my tripod. The second shot you can see was Max playing around with bubbles after getting them in his Easter basket. Enlarge both shots for best detail. What a great Easter! I just wanna thank God for sending his son Jesus to die for all of us sinners.

Royal Belle

I think I am slowly getting Isabelle used to sitting on the posing stool. It takes several props to get her to sit still or smile. With kids you have to work very quick and have things all ready to go, before you get them in the studio. She actually snuck out and came in before I was ready to have her, so I probably lost a couple of minutes of attention span. I recently got some new gels for the studio lights and was testing them on Max. They are very vibrant as you can tell. Anyway, if anyone is actually reading my blog...please respond in the comment section. I would love to hear from you. God Bless you all! Kirk

Light Bending

Putting the kids to bed at night leaves me about an hour and a half for photography, before I hit the hay. I got my trusty glasses out(my obsession as of late) and tried to think of ways to add as much color to them as possible. I think I accomplished my mission.